


Vanishing Point

by Milktrician



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Avatar of the Vast Tim Stoker, Fear Entity Avatar Tim Stoker (The Magnus Archives), Gen, No beta we kayak like Tim, Statement Fic (The Magnus Archives), The Vast Fear Entity (The Magnus Archives), Vast!Tim, actually tim is straight up vibing as an avatar, set during season 2, sorry about that danny, this was written at 3 am after i got inspired by a piece of art
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:28:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27281206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Milktrician/pseuds/Milktrician
Summary: Statement of Daniel Stoker, regarding a kayaking trip with his brother.(Vast!Tim AU)
Relationships: Danny Stoker & Tim Stoker, Sasha James & Tim Stoker
Comments: 8
Kudos: 31





	Vanishing Point

_[CLICK]_

**DANNY**

Is...that a tape recorder?

**ARCHIVIST**

Yes, due to some... _technical difficulties,_ our statements taken directly from the subject have to be recorded on tape instead of digitally.

**DANNY**

Gotcha… hey I used to own a tape recorder y’know? Me and my brother when we were alone in the house used to narrate some adventure in the woods nearby—don’t worry we always made it back and he didn’t put me in any danger—

**ARCHIVIST**

Is this what you wanted to talk about?

**DANNY**

Oh! Oh, no not entirely. I suppose it would provide some context?

**ARCHIVIST**

Right. One second.

Statement of Daniel Stoker, regarding…?

**DANNY**

A kayaking trip with my brother. 

**ARCHIVIST**

Statement taken direct from subject December 14th, 2016.

**DANNY (STATEMENT)**

My big brother Tim was my world y’know? Our parents weren’t exactly the happiest of couples so after the divorce we had a lot of time to be alone when dad went to work. Tim was always there while we were growing up in that empty house. We started just goofing around in the backyard, then stealing the house keys and running around town before our dad came home.

It was always an adventure for him. After school ended he always took the keys and went on walks either to the park or to the woods across town, always inviting me to come along like always so I wasn’t alone. When we got older it became car drives that became longer and longer until we finally got busted by our dad.

Tim was old enough to get kicked out, and well, after that we drifted off for a bit. After I was old enough to get kicked out as well I reached out to him and it wasn’t long before we hung out with each other again. He told me tales of his adventures on his own, what he can’t wait to show me and how much he’s seen. I was elated of course and while adult life got in the way, I always made sure to make room for another journey with my brother into whatever he encountered next.

_[SLIENCE BEFORE LETTING OUT A SOFT EXHALE]_

A couple of years back my brother wanted to take me to Malaysia, see some family on our mum’s side, and view some sights. He needed a break from his job and while I was up to some urban exploration with my buds, I couldn’t say no to my brother. So we booked a trip and headed out. He told me while on the plane that he was especially excited for the opportunity to go coastal kayaking. 

Our hotel was one Tim could get closest to the waters on our combined budget, and like always Tim had a whole itinerary of things to do and check out. 

Y’know it’s weird, isn’t it, the things that can change your life? You can plan for all the devastating, terrible possibilities you can imagine, and it’ll always be those tiny, _unexpected_ things that get you. Y’know, the things that you never even noticed as they were happening, just… just nudging everything into motion. But even if there was a way I could have known, I really don’t think I’d be able to have stopped him.

The first few days were walking around the big cities and meeting family members we should have met years ago. Then came the day Tim wanted to take me coastal kayaking and I still remember him picking out a really bright floral Hawaiian shirt that day, laughing about how it was a gift from an old friend while they were still in college.

When we got to the ocean it was...beautiful. I can still admit it even now after what happened. It was just the perfect weather for a day on the beach, almost too perfect. Of course, we went through safety and protocol, I remember Tim sped through it, ready to get into the water. And well, with vacation season the number of kayaks available was limited. I got the last single passenger one and Tim was alright with taking the two passenger one. He didn’t mind at all what he was saddled with, even if he was offered a first come first serve to the next guy who came back in a single passenger.

So we set out into the waters and I still can’t comment enough on how beautiful it was that day. Barely a cloud in sight and those that were there just perfectly circled the sky. And for a moment it was just me, Tim, and the sound of the waves around us just _staring_ at the endless ocean upon us.

Tim stops rowing for a bit so I stop next to him as he has this almost blissful expression on his face as he’s staring out at the horizon. And he says to me, “You know we’ve only explored 5% of the ocean? In all the years humans have been on this earth we’ve managed to chart all these landmasses and random islands—and yet a whole 95% of the ocean is just sitting there, unexplored, unprovoked, _endless_.” and he turns to me with this…gleeful expression on his face and says,  
  
_"Imagine the adventure.”_

Of course I smiled back at my brother, I don’t remember what I responded with before he started to begin traveling past the markers meant to stop him from going too far. So I start yelling, telling him to come back before the waters get too dangerous. It takes only a few tries before I can process he isn’t listening—and I could have gone after him y’know? I still feel like I _should_ have gone after him.

But I turned around and tried my best to make it to shore as fast as I could. I kept looking behind me, to make sure that lifejacket, his bright shirt, that Tim was still there. I don’t know how long it took me, but I alerted the authorities and they went to go after him. And when I turned around, I _swear_ I saw that pale orange life jacket in the distance, still going forward towards the endless ocean.

And then he disappeared off the horizon.

_[SIGH]_

I wish I could have said that was the last time I saw my brother.

I didn’t stay much after that. The search ended only after two days and several days later he was just declared dead. I went home alone with both of our luggages and I...I didn’t know what to do. I stayed away from the ocean, my friends understood that. I quit urban exploration after a while too and I guess I tried to move on.

It wasn’t until maybe a month ago that I found a post of some “man kayaking in the middle of the ocean” on some social media sites I frequented. Turns out there’s this entire rabbit hole on the internet of just sightings of this man dating back to the day my brother disappeared. And they’re all him. After all these years, the same outfit, same kayak, and he looks so...unchanged. The most recent one I found was only a few weeks back.

And he just looks so...happy. That’s what just, I dunno, scares me.

What has he been doing all this time? How is he even still alive? Why didn’t he at least tell me he was ok? I know that’s my brother and he’s still out there, alone on what he thinks is an adventure.

I keep an eye out for more sightings, just to know he’s alive.

I still haven’t been to the ocean since.

**ARCHIVIST**

Your brother’s name, it's Timothy Stoker, right?

**DANNY**

Yeah. Also, I know this is a research institute and all but—

_[PAPER RUSTLING]_

Here’s all that I could find online, there’s a few links to some niche news sites and the sightings.

**ARCHIVIST**

O-oh, thank you. Is there anything else about your brother that could be helpful in our follow up?

**DANNY**

Not that I can think of. I left my phone and email on one of the papers though. I’d appreciate anything you can find.

And if you can actually find him, tell him Danny misses him? I just want him to come home.

_[CLICK]_

* * *

_[CLICK]_

**ARCHIVIST**

Most of the follow-up Martin was able to do matches with what Mr. Stoker mentioned in his statement though provided some background. Timothy Stoker graduated from Trinity College in 2008 before working for three years at a major publishing house here in London and subsequently disappearing at a beach in Malaysia in late July 2011. Officially declared dead in early August of that year.

The sightings listed are accounts from 2011 to 2016 on cruise ships, cargo vessels, private yachts, off islands, all of a man in a kayak with a bright floral shirt. There are a few pictures that line up with descriptive accounts with older pictures of Timothy Stoker provided by his brother. The man just seems out of place in every picture he’s in post his disappearance.

I did some follow up on checking the archives to glean any new information. Sure enough my suspicions are correct, there are a few statements regarding a strange man in a kayak. All statement givers are either left mumbling into an incoherent mess about exploration and vastness or have watched another person disappear by his hands. This…thing, pretending to be Timothy Stoker, takes human victims and finds pleasure in it.

I don't know what to tell Danny yet.

There’s been a new sighting I spotted myself recently. While it is December, the picture still shows the man described as Timothy Stoker standing next to a docked cargo vessel in his kayak staring up at a person not caught in the photo. Mr. Stoker appears to be ill-dressed for the weather, still sporting the bright Hawaiian shirt and what looks to be beige khaki shorts.

However, what I am most concerned about is that the vessel the kayak is parked next to is _The Tundra_.

End recording.

_[CLICK]_

* * *

_[CLICK]_

**ARCHIVIST**

Supplemental.

I just remembered where I heard, well, read about the name Timothy Stoker before.

While I was looking into Sasha I found an old photo from her college days where she is posed with said Timothy Stoker in a bright Hawaiian shirt matching the outfit in the sightings. I…

I should talk to her.

End Supplemental.

_[CLICK]_

**Author's Note:**

> this is half the "tim is on a kayaking trip meme" and 90% inspired by [this one piece of art](https://ariartcor.tumblr.com/post/630258137507807232/no-thoughts-only-vasttim) by [ariartcor](https://ariartcor.tumblr.com/) on tumblr
> 
> vast!tim was such an out there idea that i took it and ran with it, though funny enough i unintendedly gave him some stranger vibes as well. along with having a paragraph parallel tim's statement about danny if you spot it :)
> 
> i normally dont publish fic, i draw art at [my tumblr here](https://milktrician.tumblr.com/) though.


End file.
